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Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.9

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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #510 on: 21 / September / 2018, 13:19:30 »
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Quote from: Mlapse on 20 / September / 2018, 17:26:53
thanks for the tip.
Just one small step extra would provide a serious improvement...I didn't know it was a giant leap for Canon.
So if I added some exposure control code that holds Sv at ISO100 and Av fixed, while allowing exposure time to go out to some maximum (30 sec?) such that the exposure was correct, that would do it?
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Offline Mlapse

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #511 on: 21 / September / 2018, 13:57:19 »
No, i don't think that would do it, i use iso 400 as a fixed number, but that also depends a bit on the camera i'm using and the local conditions. and after some testing..there might be room for real long exposures, but i want to keep it within natural looking situations, so for me 1.3, 1.6 and 2.0 sec would suffice, depending on zoom factor and surounding light 1.3sec would already give a serious improvement on small sensor camera's between dusk and dawn.
the 1.6 and 2.0 sec. is actually more usefull if you use a bit of zoom or if there is little artificial light....so if it goes beyond 1.3 you should actually be able to set the maximum exposure in smallest steps.
 
so i'm thinking more in the lines of: if bv<-365-375 after first time Tv=1sec => set_Tv96=-32 ...getting back: if bv>-365-375 set_Tv96=0...and back to the regular script.
So not really going for long exposures, just instead of making shooting all night with 1.0sec After the first 1.0 sec shot moving to a function that enables 1.3 sec until it reaches the bv threshold at dawn

(i'm not sure if bv -375 is ideal, but looking at the UI log files it seems close to ideal...bv setting just a bit lower than where it goes from 0.8sec to 1 sec or vice versa...hopefully without skipping at least one frame of 1 sec exposure)

but wait a second.
there is a min_Tv setting in the menu and that has 2 seconds (with the cryptic name "shoot when shutterspeed") i thought that was a trigger for starting the script, so it was always off.
It looks like this is the setting I missed.

if I put that on 2 sec I have a slightly longer shutter speed....in the dark room this is visible. 0.2mb more per jpg and a tiny bit of detail..it doesn't really feel like 2 sec.

the display states:
Tv=1.0 (2.0)

I'll test that later when it's getting darker.....tested, but i can't see a difference in sky night shots though. it must be a very small difference in exposure, not the 2 sec it says on the tin.

can you tell me something more about what it does? because this might be close to what I need.
was already writing a simplified function based on shutter speed script to test.

I've adapted shutter speed script for 1.3 second shots only..by changing k value in :ShutterCalc function, you can get other timings.  for UI it could be: k=min_Tv/32
 


« Last Edit: 22 / September / 2018, 09:09:28 by Mlapse »
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #512 on: 22 / September / 2018, 09:55:06 »
Quote from: Mlapse on 21 / September / 2018, 13:57:19
No, i don't think that would do it, i use iso 400 as a fixed number, but that also depends a bit on the camera i'm using and the local conditions. and after some testing..there might be room for real long exposures, but i want to keep it within natural looking situations, so for me 1.3, 1.6 and 2.0 sec would suffice, depending on zoom factor and surounding light 1.3sec would already give a serious improvement on small sensor camera's between dusk and dawn.
the 1.6 and 2.0 sec. is actually more usefull if you use a bit of zoom or if there is little artificial light....so if it goes beyond 1.3 you should actually be able to set the maximum exposure in smallest steps.
So adding exposure control where you can set the ISO value ( e.g. 400) and limit the maximum exposure to some user defined value (e.g. 1.6 seconds) would do it?
 
Quote
but wait a second. there is a min_Tv setting in the menu and that has 2 seconds (with the cryptic name "shoot when shutterspeed") i thought that was a trigger for starting the script, so it was always off.  <snip> can you tell me something more about what it does? because this might be close to what I need.
The script decides whether it is day or night (shooting or not shooting) based on either
  • the time of day
  • whether it's between sunrise and sunset
  • whether it's bright enough to shoot. 

The min_Tv setting is used to determine if it's bright enough. The camera checks exposure periodically with a "half press" and enables normal shooting if the shutter speed will be about the min_TV setting.

Quote
I've adapted shutter speed script for 1.3 second shots only..by changing k value in :ShutterCalc function, you can get other timings.  for UI it could be: k=min_Tv/32
That's a very old script and really does things the hard way as a result. If you want a modified ultimate.lua, there are much easier ways to do it.
« Last Edit: 22 / September / 2018, 10:05:50 by waterwingz »
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Offline Mlapse

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #513 on: 22 / September / 2018, 11:21:16 »
Quote
So adding exposure control where you can set the ISO value ( e.g. 400) and limit the maximum exposure to some user defined value (e.g. 1.6 seconds) would do it?
 

I usually set iso value in the camera software and yes, a limit that is adjustable above 1 sec exposure is all I would need.

i got that shutterspeed is old, but it was easy to adapt to get a better understanding myself... and as a result i placed 3 a490 side by side last night shooting 1, 1.3 and 1.6 sec. to verify what i was asking for was really an improvement. I am going to try it at 50% zoom again tonight.. with 1.3, 1.6 and 2.0.
« Last Edit: 22 / September / 2018, 11:43:35 by Mlapse »
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Offline Mlapse

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #514 on: 22 / September / 2018, 15:07:58 »
Quote
The script decides whether it is day or night (shooting or not shooting) based on either

whether it's bright enough to shoot.

The min_Tv setting is used to determine if it's bright enough. The camera checks exposure periodically with a "half press" and enables normal shooting if the shutter speed will be about the min_TV setting.


Well, then it is a good thing that i never used that for this project, but i can see it come handy with certain projects where all night shots are lost SDcard space.
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Offline Mlapse

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #515 on: 24 / September / 2018, 10:59:41 »
And now i feel i'm really pushing it, we talked about that 1/1000 would probably suffice in most situations.

I did a lot of testing this weekend, during daytime and nighttime.
After seeing some degradation in sharpness at the brightest points of the day I started checking the logs.
what I found was that while shooting in daytime with the S95 (1/1.7), most of the shots were at 1/1000 the only change was in F stop.
The ones with the most degradation were at f/7-f/8, at f/6 it was less clear.

SO this is absoluty no request to change it ...it is more what I saw in the logs and on the pictures. and might be something to consider if you want to improve on it's usable range.

would it be possible to increase the min shutter speed to 1/2000?
it is not ideal to change it, because 1/1000 works perfectly.
and it all depends on iso and ideal F stop if 1/2000 gives improvement on your specific model.
 
But I'm assuming that as a result F stops will remain lower when the minimum is 1/2000 and it is day.

 
« Last Edit: 24 / September / 2018, 11:45:31 by Mlapse »
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Offline Sdack

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #516 on: 25 / September / 2018, 17:01:51 »
Hi folks,
I've just retrieved a camera that's been out for ten days, capturing the leaves filling out a lovely Pin Oak in my front garden.  It's Spring here in Aus.  The Camera's an Ixus160 with Ultimate Intervalomater shooting every 30 mins - 10am to 5pm daily.

I'm disappointed to find it only took 3 shots  :o and I need to figure out why before my next project, which I really don't want to fail.

Enable on Days option was definitely set to ALL.

Here's a paste of ULTIMATE.0 in CHDK DATA folder, which I think is the preset. 

It would appear that the Shoot on Days option is missing from the preset.  The list goes from End Min to Dusk mode, where on the camera list there's a Shoot on Days attribute in between those.  I hope it's that simple a fix!

Code: [Select]
#shot_interval=9
#zoom_setpoint=1
#focus_at_infinity=1
#min_Tv=0
#start_stop_mode=1
#start_hr=10
#start_min=0
#dawn_mode=0
#end_hr=17
#end_min=0
#dusk_mode=0
#dow_mode=0
#latitude=449
#longitude=-931
#utc=-6
#time_offset=0
#hdr_mode=0
#hdr_offset=5
#hdr_shots=0
#file_delete=0
#start_delay=0
#maximum_days=0
#reboot_counter=3
#reboot_hour=2
#day_display_mode=1
#night_display_mode=4
#low_batt_trip=2500
#day_status_led=0
#night_status_led=0
#ptp_enable=0
#theme=0
#log_mode=2
#debug_mode=0
Here's the log entry from my failed shoot

Code: [Select]
Day -- Sat Sep 15 15:26:37 2018 === Ultimate v4.5 : 15:26 ===
Day -- Sat Sep 15 15:26:37 2018 CHDK 1.4.1 ixus160_elph160 100a Feb  1 2018
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:26:37 2018 Autostarted.  Next reboot:3 days
Day -- Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018 === Ultimate v4.5 : 15:27 ===
Day -- Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018 CHDK 1.4.1 ixus160_elph160 100a Feb  1 2018
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  int:1800 zoom:0 inf:true minTV:9999 mode:true
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  startHr:10 startMin:0 dawn:false
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  endHr:17 endMin0 dusk:false dow:0
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  lat:449 lon:-931 utc:-6 toffset0
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  HDR:0 offset:192 shots:1 delay:0 max:0
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  reboot:3 rebootHr:2 LCD day:1 LCD nit:4 Batt:2500
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  DLed:0 NLed:0 ptp:false theme:0 log:2
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018  del:0 debug:false
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:46 2018 setting zoom to 0 percent step=0
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:27:53 2018 start time : 10:00 stop time : 17:00
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:28:07 2018 key pressed
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:28:07 2018 menu key exit
Day -- Sat Sep 15 15:29:32 2018 === Ultimate v4.5 : 15:29 ===
Day -- Sat Sep 15 15:29:32 2018 CHDK 1.4.1 ixus160_elph160 100a Feb  1 2018
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:29:32 2018 Autostarted.  Next reboot:3 days
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:29:38 2018 setting zoom to 0 percent step=0
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:29:45 2018 start time : 10:00 stop time : 17:00
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:30:02 2018 Oldest image set to : 164___09/IMG_0696.JPG
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:30:02 2018 V: 4.422 T: 27 Ts: 39 IMG_0696.JPG tv: 1/800 f: 3.2 ISO: 94 bv: 869
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 15:30:45 2018 set LCD off
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 16:00:02 2018 V: 4.422 T: 28 Ts: 40 IMG_0697.JPG tv: 1/640 f: 3.2 ISO: 94 bv: 862
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 16:30:02 2018 V: 4.426 T: 28 Ts: 40 IMG_0698.JPG tv: 1/640 f: 3.2 ISO: 94 bv: 856
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 17:00:00 2018 set LCD on
The camera was powered by a USB battery pack (connected via a Dummy Battery to the camera, not the Camera USB port), with six 18650 laptop type batteries and each cell reports @4V+, so it wasn't a lack of power.  There is also 23GIG of free space on the SD card, so it isn't lack of storage either.

I'm off to Bali in a week to set up some cameras to monitor a pilot geo engineering project and I'm planning to use Ultimate in exactly this manner.  I would normally use my Raspberry Pi, Internet connected rig for such a mission but these cameras will be underwater, 5km offshore.  So I really would like to be sure there'll be some images at the end.

Please advise how I might go about debugging this

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions

Nigel
PS.  I just tried a debug run in the hope it may add more feedback.  Here's the result:

Code: [Select]
Day --  18:40 === Ultimate v4.5 : 18:40 ===
Day --  18:44 CHDK 1.4.1 ixus160_elph160 100a Feb  1 2018
Day 1  18:45 Autostarted.  Next reboot:3 days
Day 1  22:22 setting zoom to 0 percent step=0
Day 1  02:12 start time : 10:00 stop time : 17:00
Day 1  02:13 switching to night mode
Day 1  02:32 V: 3.796 T: 20 Ts: 28 <no shot>
Day 1  03:05 V: 3.796 T: 20 Ts: 28 <no shot>
Day 1  03:32 V: 3.796 T: 20 Ts: 28 <no shot>
Day 1  04:05 V: 3.791 T: 20 Ts: 28 <no shot>
Day 1  04:33 V: 3.791 T: 20 Ts: 28 <no shot>
Day 1  05:05 V: 3.796 T: 20 Ts: 28 <no shot>
Day 1  05:33 V: 3.791 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 1  06:01 V: 3.796 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 1  06:34 V: 3.791 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 1  07:02 V: 3.791 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 1  07:25 shooting mode off
Day 1  09:48 V: 3.865 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 1  10:02 shooting mode on
Day 1  12:48 setting zoom to 0 percent step=0
Day 1  16:15 switching to day mode
Day 1  17:31 Oldest image set to : 164___09/IMG_0699.JPG
Day 1  17:34 V: 3.777 T: 20 Ts: 29 IMG_0699.JPG tv: 1/15 f: 3.2 ISO: 800 bv: 24
Day 1  17:39 switching to night mode
Day 1  17:40 V: 3.782 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 1  18:04 V: 3.791 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  18:15 shooting mode off
Day 1  20:38 V: 3.865 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  21:02 V: 3.870 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  21:31 V: 3.865 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  22:01 V: 3.870 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  22:32 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  23:03 V: 3.870 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  23:31 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 1  00:02 starting a new day
Day 2  00:03 start time : 10:00 stop time : 17:00
Day 2  00:03 V: 3.870 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  00:32 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  01:02 V: 3.870 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  01:30 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  02:00 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  02:32 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  03:03 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  03:30 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  04:02 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  04:32 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  05:00 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  05:31 V: 3.875 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  06:02 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  06:30 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  07:00 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  07:31 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  08:03 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  08:30 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  09:01 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  09:32 V: 3.879 T: 20 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  10:00 shooting mode on
Day 2  12:46 setting zoom to 0 percent step=0
Day 2  16:07 switching to day mode
Day 2  17:13 V: 3.787 T: 21 Ts: 29 IMG_0700.JPG tv: 1/80 f: 3.2 ISO: 800 bv: 255
Day 2  17:18 switching to night mode
Day 2  17:19 V: 3.791 T: 21 Ts: 29 <no shot>
Day 2  17:35 V: 3.791 T: 21 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  17:54 shooting mode off
Day 2  20:17 V: 3.865 T: 21 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  20:31 V: 3.870 T: 21 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  21:02 V: 3.875 T: 21 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  21:30 V: 3.870 T: 21 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  22:00 V: 3.875 T: 21 Ts: 30 <no shot>
Day 2  22:28 key pressed
Day 2  22:29 shooting mode on
Day 2  01:14 setting zoom to 0 percent step=0
« Last Edit: 25 / September / 2018, 17:48:00 by Sdack »
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Offline Sdack

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #517 on: 25 / September / 2018, 17:56:57 »
To get on the same page I've downloaded Ultimate V4.8 and will fire it up today.

I hope there's a way to debug this without having to wait overnight.  I only have a week or so before I leave to Bali and I've got lots of other things to do ie. figure out housings that can cope underwater for many days just beneath the surface of the open ocean!

Thanks again
Sdack


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Offline Sdack

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #518 on: 25 / September / 2018, 21:43:03 »
Unfortunately V4.8 wasn't the instant fix I was hoping for.

I ran a debug session with the following settings, which in overview should have shot every 5 mins - 9am -5pm for two days then stopped.

Code: [Select]
#shot_interval=6
#zoom_setpoint=0
#focus_at_infinity=0
#min_Tv=0
#usb_trigger=0
#start_stop_mode=1
#start_hr=9
#start_min=0
#dawn_mode=0
#end_hr=17
#end_min=0
#dusk_mode=0
#dow_mode=0
#latitude=0
#longitude=0
#utc=0
#time_offset=0
#hdr_mode=0
#hdr_offset=5
#hdr_shots=0
#file_delete=0
#start_delay=0
#maximum_days=2
#reboot_counter=3
#reboot_hour=2
#day_display_mode=1
#night_display_mode=4
#low_batt_trip=0
#day_status_led=0
#night_status_led=0
#ptp_enable=0
#theme=0
#log_mode=2
#debug_mode=1
It ran for a long time (in sped up debug time), and didn't look like it was going to stop (capturing 11 virtual days) so I stopped it manually.  However it only took 32 actual images during that time

Couple of things I noticed are :- when one autostarts the script, it thinks the time is 18:00 when it actually isn't.. maybe this is a debug sped up timing thing?

Secondly it states 'no shot; every five minutes outside of my designated shooting period but then, when it hits my start time of 9am it says 'shooting mode on' but then doesn't take an image for a while later - small relevant snippet of ultimate.log is here

Code: [Select]
Day 21  08:51 <no shot> V: 3.949 T: 26
Day 21  08:56 <no shot> V: 3.949 T: 26
Day 21  09:00 shooting mode on
Day 21  11:46 switching to day mode
Day 21  12:59 IMG_0840.JPG tv: 1/60 f: 3.2 ISO: 226 bv: 364  V: 3.898 T: 26
Day 21  14:21 IMG_0841.JPG tv: 1/60 f: 3.2 ISO: 327 bv: 315  V: 3.898 T: 26
Day 21  15:45 IMG_0842.JPG tv: 1/60 f: 3.2 ISO: 400 bv: 288  V: 3.893 T: 26
Day 21  17:10 IMG_0843.JPG tv: 1/60 f: 3.2 ISO: 449 bv: 273  V: 3.898 T: 26
Day 21  17:15 set LCD off
Day 21  17:19 set LCD on
Day 21  22:21 switching to night mode
Day 21  22:22 <no shot> V: 3.898 T: 26
Full log attached

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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Ultimate Intervalometer - a script for shooting over a long duration - v4.8
« Reply #519 on: 25 / September / 2018, 23:00:35 »
Quote from: Sdack on 25 / September / 2018, 17:01:51
I'm disappointed to find it only took 3 shots  :o and I need to figure out why before my next project, which I really don't want to fail.
ultimate.lua has been downloaded thousands of times and used for many big, long interval projects successfully.  So we need to figure out why it does not work for you.

Quote
It would appear that the Shoot on Days option is missing from the preset.  The list goes from End Min to Dusk mode, where on the camera list there's a Shoot on Days attribute in between those.  I hope it's that simple a fix!
No fix needed - the parameter is in the list you posted.  It is this one :
Code: [Select]
#dow_mode=0

Quote
Here's the log entry from my failed shoot
Code: [Select]
<snip>
Day 1 Sat Sep 15 17:00:00 2018 set LCD on
That's an interesting place for the script to just stop.  We will need to look into the possability of a bug with the set_LCD_display() function and the ixus160_elph160.  There have been a few cameras that struggle with the implementation of that function and the script has extra code to try and deal with those issues.

Would you please attach the complete log file?   That would help a lot here  - the debug log you posted in a subsequent post is not a lot of use.

Quote
The camera was powered by a USB battery pack (connected via a Dummy Battery to the camera, not the Camera USB port), with six 18650 laptop type batteries and each cell reports @4V+, so it wasn't a lack of power. 
...
Please advise how I might go about debugging this
I'll read through your other posts but I'm not expecting much from the logs produced in debug mode.  IIRC that was a simple hack I threw in at one point and might have issues of its own.

In the meantime, just for grins,  set the Day & Night display off modes to [ BKLite ] please and retest?  It will use a little more power but would quickly tell us if we have a problem with set_LCD_display() and your camera model.

Quote
I hope there's a way to debug this without having to wait overnight
"When in doubt, cheat." 

Set your camera's time to 23:50,  the scripts start time to 00:15  and the stop time to 00:45.  Let it run for an hour and with a two shot minute interval, you should get about 15 shots.

Edit : there might also be some weirdness with using :
Code: [Select]
Display off mode (day)   [ LCD ]
Display off mode (night) [ PlayKey ]
so if [ BKLite ] works, try setting them both to [ LCD ]?
« Last Edit: 25 / September / 2018, 23:21:36 by waterwingz »
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